Between Light and Dark
by The Gilded Lily and Rose
Summary: The last time Laura Grayson was seen she was fleeing her past and leaving for America. Now she's come back kicking. Looking for away to protect her friends, family, and way of life. While trying to fight her demons in secret. Joined by Hogwarts next generation. OCxJSP, SMxRW, OCxFWII, OCxDW
1. Chapter 1

Laura Katherine Grayson wasn't afraid of much. She wasn't afraid of spiders, she wasn't afraid of snakes, she wasn't even afraid of thunder storms any more. But what she was afraid of, more than anything else, was going away to Hogwarts, a magical school. Of course she would never tell anyone and before she knew it she was stepping on the school train and waving good bye to her mum and dad. She searched high and low for someone, anyone familiar. Pricilla and Coraline Nott's compartment was full or that's what they told her anyway. She didn't even try Leon Yaxley. He was a 7th year now and he wouldn't be shy about shooing her away. Hopelessly she wandered the train. Just as she reached the last compartment she heard,

"You need a place to sit?"

Laura whirled around. She slipped into the compartment the voice came from and took the seat nearest the door next to a sleeping girl. Two boys sat across from her.

The first boy said "I'm James and this is my cousin Fred".

The dark skinned one waved.

"My name is Laura Katherine" she said timidly.

"Got a nick name?" James wondered.

"Yeah, Laura Katherine makes you sound like a prat" Fred added earning a kick from James and a glare from Laura.

"Well you can call me Laura"

"That's a little bit better" Fred said amiably.

Laura motioned to the sleeping girl. "Who's this?"

"Oh that's just Dom. Another cousin of ours", James explained, "Her family just got back from France so she's sleeping off the time difference".

Fred nudged Dom. "Morning sunshine".

"Huh?"

"This is Laura, Dom" James said.

Dom stretched and suddenly came to life. She no longer seemed tired; instead she was a bright and fresh as a day in the middle of spring.

"Vela" muttered Fred.

She poked her tongue out at him and turned to Laura. Extending her hand she introduced herself. "I'm Dominique Austine Weasley and it's a pleasure to meet you"

Laura took Dom's hand and smiled.

James leaned forward and made a show of stage whispering to Laura. "A word to the wise, don't call her Dominique unless you want a fist to the face".

Everyone laughed for a long while. It wasn't that anything was so terribly funny. They were just glad to be in each other's company.

Later that day, Laura was laughing again. She was laughing at the absurdity of circumstance. How could she end up in Gryffindor of all places? She was the daughter of Daphne Grayson (Formally Greengrass) everyone in her family had been a Slytherin. Sure there had been a few Ravenclaws here and there… but Gryffindor? And her? She put the silly old hat back on the stool for the next person.

She sat down next to a bigger boy (Probably a 7th year).

"Hello, I'm Teddy Lupin" he said.

She smiled at him. He seemed nice enough, if a little bummed.

The second the hat touched James's head it screamed Gryffindor. He raised his hands in triumph and strode over to the Gryffindor table. He plopped down across from Laura, completely ignoring the standing ovation he was getting. They were making so much noise that Professor Dortmund had to stop them before the sorting could continue with Nadia Potts-Carving. Even then there was a crowd forming around him.

Teddy looked furious. His hair flashed from a Weasley worthy orange to a Menacing black-purple. Laura gasped in surprise.

"James, are they bothering you?" Teddy said in voice that was all the more dangerous for the amount of calm in it.

The crowd noticed and braced itself. Teddy meant business.

Teddy addressed the crowd. "We are Gryffindor. We ought to have some semblance of manners! You are sickening to me. How could you be so terrible to one of our own? He deserves more tha-". Teddy stopped mid-rant. The sorting had stopped once again. This time to listen to the Gryffindor get chewed out. Teddy blushed and his hair followed suit, becoming Pepto-Bismol pink.

"Thanks Ted" James said grateful.

"It's my Job isn't it?" Teddy said fiddling with his head boy pin.

James crossed his arms and frowned. He couldn't come up with a good retort. Teddy's hair gradually faded back to its neutral dark blue as he calmed down. This pushed Laura over the edge.

"His hair…" She stammered.

Teddy took a deep breath as if he were about to recite a monologue. "My mum was a Metamorphmagus so I should be one to, but my dad was a werewolf so we think that messed it up a bit. Only my hair changes and I have almost no control over it."

"Ah Ted, you're getting better. You were ginger for…" He paused for calculations. "Thirty or forty minutes!"

"And now I have a headache" Teddy complained good-naturedly.

"You just can't win can you" Laura laughed.

There was a pause in the conversation to watch the Weasley cousins being sorted. Fred only took a second longer than James did, but Dom started to worry them. Fortuitously, it wasn't really as long as it seemed and soon Dom was right where she belonged; at Laura's side and nowhere else.

Soon the feast was over and Teddy escorted the first years to the Gryffindor common room, where the pass word curiously enough was 'Hufflepuff Hangover' instead of 'Cockalorum'. Teddy was seen shouting at a second year called Samuel Finnegan later that evening. Laura and Dom were pleased to meet their roommates Scarlett and Chan. A bout of gossip reveled that Chan's mum and James's dad were once an item, that Dom's sister in Ravenclaw had a thing for Teddy, and that more than one person in the room thought that Samuel Finnegan was fit.

Laura did well in school, except history which no one ever did well in. She found herself telling Dom, Fred and James things she'd never told anyone. She didn't know when that happened. Perhaps it was when they practically had to tie James down during the quidditch try-outs he couldn't attend or when Fred walked in on Teddy snoging the head girl, Victorie Weasley (Otherwise known as Dom's sister). Fred and James became famous school wide as up-and-coming pranksters. What the masses didn't know was that Dom and Laura were the masterminds behind everything.

They boys didn't listen to Laura and Dom at first. One notable occasion Fred dared James to hex the Slytherin quidditch team. They'd decided to use a particularly nasty one they'd found in Hexes Curses and Things, an Arguably Legal Guide. Geared to ruin your enemies' reputation, the Hex decided upon forced the victim to ballroom dance while singing operatically. Fred thought it was hilarious.

In potions one day while they were working on a cure for chicken pox, Laura noticed the boys snickering behind the cauldron. "What's so funny?"

"Umm… Nothing" said James.

"Nothing at all" said Fred.

Dom wouldn't put up with that at all.

"OUUUCH!" hollered Fred. Professor Dortmund ran over immediately. She was the house head of Hufflepuff and could not stand to have any of her students hurt.

"He's fine professor, just a paper cut" Dom lied. She was completely believable due to either her vela heritage or her untapped reserves of acting talent.

Fred turned to the daisy stems he was supposed to be mincing. "Why do you always hit me?"

Laura rolled her eyes. "She couldn't very well hit James. He's too far away. Now tell us why you were laughing and stop trying to change the subject."

Fred grumbled for a bit, but James was noble in defeat. "We're going to hex the Slytherin quidditch team today at lunch. It will be hilarious" his eyes gleamed.

Dom, ever the practical one, interrupted James's moment of glory. "Have either of you ever done this hex before?"

Fred snorted. "Dom, I hardly expect you to understand. You're probably too scared to hex anyone."

This time Laura kicked him under the table.

Fred meekly slid his daisies into the cauldron. "We'll show you. It will work"

"How 'bout this" Laura piped up. "If you're prank works we'll write your essays for Prof. Binns. If it doesn't… Well I don't want you anywhere near my grades so…"

"You will be our personal slaves for a week" Dom smiled evilly.

James and Dom shook on it while Laura and Fred finished up the potion.


	2. Chapter 2

James cackled manically. Soon his dreams of watching the Slytherins badly dance the tango would be realized. Fred shook his head. With the way James was carrying on they would be caught in no time at all.

"Stop that"

"Why?"

Fred huffed. "Because you're not The Joker!"

James frowned. "Who?"

"Never mind". Fred might just be spending too much time with Grandpa Weasley.

"Ready?" James asked.

"Ready!"

The two boys pulled out their wands. One whispered 'Saltatio Ineptus' and the other 'Sonoclarus'.

Nothing happened at first. The utter madness broke loose. Many of the Slytherins began projectile vomiting all over the Hufflepuffs (The Hufflepuffs, as everyone knows, are sympathetic vomiters).

"Must have mispronounced it" Fred said. His voice crescendoed worriedly as he and James began performing a very intense tango on top of the Gryffindor table. Everyone stopped screaming to watch. One of the Ravenclaws started up some spicy music.

Fred started to hyperventilate. He'd stepped in the mashed potatoes.

"Look Fred, either we can sit here and watch our reputations fly past our faces or we can throw ourselves into it" James said matter-of-factly. He started to make a slightly seductive face at Fred who blushed deeply.

"Put your hips into it" James commanded.

Fred immediately complied and the crowd loved it. Even the puke covered Hufflepuffs and Slytherins couldn't stop laughing. After the Tango came a saucy tap number and by the time that ended the prefects and professors had finished cleaning up the barf and could handle the boys.

"Claudicatis". Fred and James collapsed.

Professor Longbottom and Teddy caught the exhausted boys and dragged them to Longbottom's office. Floo powder was tossed into the fire place and fathers were contacted.

"Hullo Harry"

"Hullo Neville, Teddy" said Mr. Potter.

"We're just waiting on Mr. Weasley" said Longbottom. "Oh and Lupin?"

Teddy stood straight awaiting orders.

"You can go back to dinner."

Teddy left with a dip of his head.

BOOM! A middle aged fiery haired man fell out of the fire place. George Weasley had arrived. "What's the emergency Neville? You know how much I hate leaving Ronikins in charge of the shop" he joked half heartedly.

Longbottom motioned for everyone to be seated. "I'm not exactly sure what happened, but at least half of Slytherin has been to the infirmary and Fred and James… are the closest things we have to suspects."

"Innocence until proven guilty!" James declared.

"Hogwarts isn't America, Son" Harry said.

James winced. Perhaps he'd been spending too much time with Aunt 'Mione.

"James, Fred" Harry said tersely, "What exactly happened".

"Well you see-"

"What happened was-"

"The truth!"

The boys recognized defeat.

"Ursula Flint and her cronies were making fun of Dom and Scarlett" Said James

"Scarlett is Dom's roommate and she is absolutely wonderful" Said Fred.

"At charms"

"Yes at charms". Fred was blushing now.

"Anyway Ursula is a chaser for Slytherin" James continued.

"And we'd found these wicked awesome hexes"

George leaned in closer. "What book?"

"Uh… Hexes, Curses, and Things, an Arguably Legal Guide" Fred said.

George visibly brightened. "Lee Jordan wrote that book. Which ones did you use?"

"Twitter Legs hex and Sonoclarus" James said happy to get a positive response from his prankster uncle.

"Ah. If used improperly Sonoclarus can be messy" Said George factually.

"Trust me it was messy" Neville said. "Could the Twitter Legs curse backfire on the user?"

George stroked his chin thoughtfully. "If the user was laughing like a prat beforehand it might".

"Why so serious?" Fred said.

James shoved Fred out of his chair earning them both nasty looks from the adults.

"That might explain why they were tap dancing on top of a table when we found them" Neville said. "Since this is their first offence I thought I'd consult you".

George looked appalled. "What were you thinking?" he said grabbing a hold of Fred's shoulders.

Harry chuckled. "George, I hate to break it to you but it sounds like something you would have done"

"My son? Tap dancing because of a spell he cast?" George shook his head. "Not something I would do"

"James is the one who cast it!" Fred said indignantly. "I did the Sonoclarus".

"Oh good job then" said George. "But if your mother asks I am furious".

Harry got down on the boys level. "I know somewhere in this you were trying to protect your cousin which is great, but you need to come to Nev- I mean Professor Longbottom first, he is your house head after all . If for some reason he doesn't listen to you come to me and I promise I will help".

"But you-"

Harry interrupted his son. "But me nothing. I've nearly died more times than I care to admit. The point is I want you to be safe. I know that sounds silly, James, but nearly all of us 'older folks' have given a lot so that you can be safe". Harry turned to Neville. "I can't speak for George but I think a dentition might set them straight. A walk in the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid maybe?"

Neville shuddered at the memory. "Actually, I've been needing someone pick the singing moss of the sides of the green house three".

"Well if Harry's alright with it I am" said George.

"Then it's settled. Boys report to me after dinner tomorrow" Neville said.

Fred groaned and James cursed under his breath.

"What was that?" wondered Harry.

"Jam. I just suddenly realized I wanted Jam"

Harry nodded. He'd let it slide this time.

There are many abandoned classrooms in Hogwarts and one of them just happened to be right on top of a certain Professor's office. This classroom also happens to have a hole in the floor. It was a small hole admittedly but big enough for Laura's purposes.

The second she saw James and Fred being dragged out of the room she grabbed Dom's arm and rushed to the classroom. Uncle George had given Dom a prankster's goody bag complete with the odd extendable ear. The ear fit perfectly through the hole in the floor. They laughed as silently as they could so that those below couldn't hear them. When they couldn't breathe anymore and their sides were on fire they collapsed on the floor, completely content. Could anything better be better than this?

"Personal slaves" said Dom.

"Personal slaves" agreed Laura.


	3. Chapter 3

Laura wandered around her uncle's estate wistfully. She wanted to make the most of her last month in England. Trailing behind her was her younger cousin, who seemed bored with the whole affair. Laura was having a fine adventure, but he lived here. Nothing was new.

"The lake is over that way" he said, pointing to his left.

She nodded and changed course ever so slightly. Her family was moving to America because her father's firm had opened up a new office there. They were spending the summer at Malfoy Manor so that her brother Anthony, who was staying with them, could get acclimated. She had yet to properly explore their lake. It was absolutely breath taking.

Scourpius shimmied off his socks and shoes and plopped in. Laura was more hesitant.

"Are you sure it's safe?" she wondered.

"The most dangerous fish in here is the size of your fist and eats pond scum" he said.

Laura slipped in to the crystal clear water and splashed at Scour for being rude. He dove under the silken surface and turned over on his back to gaze at her. Laura's still dry hair was surrounded by the halo of the sun. She dove under with him and when they felt the tug of oxygen on their lungs they blew bubbles to delay the inevitable. All the bubbles attracted sickle sized, perfectly round fish that nibbled at their toes and hair. Laughing they broke the surface. They trudged to the shore and gingerly laid themselves on the warm pebbles of the beach to dry.

"Why don't you do that all the time?" Laura asked breathlessly.

"It's not as fun when I'm alone" he admitted.

Laura (the oldest of three) and Scour (an only child) had often found themselves on opposite sides of the age old debate of the relevance of siblings. This time however Laura let it go.

Scour looked at her inquisitively. "What's it like at Hogwarts?"

She thought for a while. "Amazing and terrible and wonderful".

Scour frowned but he didn't say anything.

She thought back to the last day of her first year at Hogwarts. She had been furious at James. He had asked her to kiss him at lunch to make his yearlong crush jealous. She said some things about how far 4th year Hannah Shunpike was out of his league. He said that he would rather kiss his cousin then her. The details being unimportant, they did not part on the best of terms.

Scour gasped drawing Laura out of her memories. She turned to see what he was looking at. A girl in her late teens had stepped out of the foliage. She walked over to the children with purpose.

Scour puffed up his chest. "This is Malfoy Manor and you are not meant to be here".

The girl produced a wand from inside her robes. Soon she had them secured against a sizable tree.

"Our parents will find us" Scour shouted.

"I wouldn't mind that" she said dryly. "Do you have anything to say?" she asked Laura.

Laura gave her a death glare. The girl moved closer to Laura. Her sheets of black hair tumbled over Laura brushing Laura's nose.

"Draco Malfoy deserves pain." The girl whispered in Laura's ear. "That's why you will live. I need you to tell him why his son is dead".

Laura froze. There was nothing she could do.

The girl mumbled something and the tip of her wand lit up. She ran it over Scour's bare chest. He bit his lip. A Malfoy does not show pain. Everywhere her wand touched him a white hot line formed. Her wand cut and burned in equal measure cauterizing the cuts as she went. A Malfoy does not scream. The girl made an intricate design that at once looked like a cursive letter A and a flying eagle. As soon as she was done she ended the spell and placed her wand back into her robes. She pulled a Knife out and brought it to Scour's throat.

"Scourpius, Laura" bellowed a male voice.

"Your mothers have lunch ready" shouted a different one.

The girl's eyes grew wide. She was not quite prepared to face two fully grown wizards yet. She apperated with a bang.

The second she was gone the bonds holding the children disappeared. Laura quickly found Scour's shirt and shoved it on him. He stared across the lake. Malfoys do not cry. But if so what was coming out of his eyes?


End file.
